At left, Mary Ferry of Riverside, along with others, listen to the presentation given by Michael Haeflich, director of emergency coordination for Connecicut Light & Power, during the Riverside Association annual meeting at St. Paul's Church in Riverside, Thursday night, Jan. 17, 2013. less

At left, Mary Ferry of Riverside, along with others, listen to the presentation given by Michael Haeflich, director of emergency coordination for Connecicut Light & Power, during the Riverside Association ... more

The schools chief has indicated that despite pressure from some parents, it is not likely that armed guards will be placed in the town's schools.

Superintendent of Schools William McKersie told a crowd at the Riverside Association's annual meeting that the group of educators and town officials evaluating school security in the wake of last month's shooting rampage in Newtown is "strongly leaning not to add in more armed guards."

The first question McKersie received after his 10-minute presentation during the gathering at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Riverside Avenue was about whether administrators had come to a decision on hiring armed security officers.

McKersie said that during his meetings with other town officials, including Police Chief James Heavey, the group was mainly focused on other issues, such as access to schools and security procedures. He has also met with superintendents from other Fairfield County school districts.

"Most districts in the country will not be adding armed guards," he said.

There was a great deal of debate when Greenwich High School got its first school resource officer, an armed police officer integrated into the school community. McKersie said they have been discussing similar arrangements for the town's middle schools, but there has not been much discussion about putting officers at the elementary schools.

McKersie said the district would not cave in to public pressure to place armed guards in all schools.

"Whether or not we have armed guards in our schools will not be a parent decision," McKersie said.

Christina McGlone, whose daughter is a third-grader at Riverside School, said administrators should pay more attention to regular security procedures. She recalled volunteering for lunch duty at Riverside one afternoon after the Sandy Hook shooting, and noticing a car with New York license plates parked in the fire lane outside the school. No one knew who the car belonged to. Visitors, after being buzzed in, can sometimes make it past the main office without having to sign in.

"I think some of those procedural issues should be addressed before we jump to armed guards," McGlone said.

Bill Baxter, who has a pair of children attending Eastern Middle School and two children attending Greenwich High School, noted it would cost too much to put at least two armed officers at all 15 of the town's schools.

"Are you going to fire 30 teachers?" Baxter said.

The environment at schools like Riverside, where parents often volunteer, would also be changed, Baxter said.

"If you start making it a prison, something that's that secure, I think you lose that," Baxter said.

The group reviewing school security plans to meet this month to bring together data on the issues and map out costs of any changes that need to be made, McKersie said.